Charles, Duke of Vendôme

Charles
Duke of Vendôme
18th-century portrait of the Duke of Vendôme
Spouse	Françoise d'Alençon
Issue
Marguerite, Duchess of Nevers Antoine, King of Navarre François, Count of Enghien Madeleine, Abbess of Sainte Croix de Poitiers Charles, Archbishop of Rouen Catherine, Abbess of Soissons Renée, Abbess of Chelles Jean, Count of Soissons Louis, Prince of Condé Léonore, Abbess of Fontevraud
Full name
Charles de Bourbon
House	House of Bourbon
Father	François, Count of Vendôme
Mother	Marie de Luxembourg
Born	2 June 1489 Château de Vendôme, France
Died	25 March 1537(1537-03-25) (aged 47) Amiens, France

Charles de Bourbon (2 June 1489– 25 March 1537) was a French prince du sang and military commander at the court of Francis I of France. He is notable as the paternal grandfather of King Henri IV of France.

Biography

Charles was born at the Château de Vendôme, the son of François, Count of Vendôme and Marie de Luxembourg.^[1] On 18 May 1513, he married Françoise d'Alençon, daughter of René, Duke of Alençon.^[2] They had thirteen children:

• Louis de Bourbon (1514–1516), unmarried
• Marie de Bourbon (1515–1538), unmarried, prospective bride of James V of Scotland in 1536.
• Marguerite de Bourbon (1516–1589), married 1538 Francis I of Cleves, Duke of Nevers (1516–1561)
• Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1518–1562)
• François de Bourbon, Count of Enghien (1519–1546), unmarried
• Madeleine de Bourbon, Abbess of Sainte Croix de Poitiers (1521–1561), unmarried
• Louis de Bourbon (1522–1525), unmarried
• Charles de Bourbon, Archbishop of Rouen (1523–1590), unmarried
• Catherine de Bourbon, Abbess of Soissons (1525–1594), unmarried
• Renée de Bourbon, Abbess of Chelles (1527–1583), unmarried
• Jean de Bourbon, Count of Soissons and Enghien (1528–1557), married 1557 his first cousin Marie, Duchess of Estouteville (1539–1601)
• Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (7 May 1530 – 13 March 1569), married Eléonore de Roye
• Léonore de Bourbon, Abbess of Fontevraud (1532–1611), unmarried;

In 1514, Charles was named a peer of France and elevated from Count of Vendôme to Duke of Vendôme.^[3] His sons Antoine, duke of Vendrome and Louis, Prince de Condé, became powerful military leaders on opposite sides in the French Wars of Religion, and his grandson became King Henry IV of France. Charles died at Amiens in 1537 at the age of 47.

Notes

1. ^ Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon,Vol.1, (Rue de L'École de Médecine, 1825), 366.
2. ^ Bulletin de la commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne, Jan. 1878, (Imprimerie De Leon Moreau, 1885), 300.
3. ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.27, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, (1911), 982.

References

• Bulletin de la commission historique et archéologique de la Mayenne, Jan. 1878, Imprimerie De Leon Moreau, 1885.
• The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.27, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, 1911.
• Achaintre, Nicolas Louis, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de Bourbon,Vol.1, Rue de L'École de Médecine, 1825.

Ancestors

Succession

Preceded by Francis I	Count of Vendôme 1495–1514	Succeeded by title was elevated to peerage-duchy
Preceded by title was elevated from countship	Duke of Vendôme 1514–1537	Succeeded by Antoine de Bourbon

Persondata
Name	Bourbon, Charles De, Duke Of Vendome
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	2 June 1489
Place of birth	Château de Vendôme, France
Date of death	25 March 1537
Place of death	Amiens, France